OKLAHOMA CITY -- The United States was beaten in an international softball game for the first time since 2002, losing, 2-1, to Canada in the inaugural World Cup of Softball on Thursday night.
The U.S. last lost an international game on July 4, 2002, 6-1, to Japan at the U.S. Cup.
According to tournament officials, it was only the third time that a Canadian team had beaten a U.S. team. The Canadians beat the Americans at the 1983 Pan Am Games and in qualifying for the 1997 Pan Am Games.
Some of the United States' biggest stars weren't in the lineup. U.S. coach Mike Candrea started Alicia Hollowell, a newcomer to the team, instead of aces Jennie Finch or Cat Osterman.
Sheena Lawrick drove in both of Canada's runs with a pair of singles, and 18-year-old Danielle Lawrie yielded only five hits to a U.S. team that outscored opponents, 51-1, on its way to the gold medal at the Athens Olympics.
College basketball
Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber was rewarded yesterday with a two-year contract extension that gives him a $150,000 raise, a $100,000 signing bonus and deferred compensation that could exceed $1.1 million. Weber, who led the Illini to the national championship game and a 37-2 record last season, will be under contract through the 2010-2011 season as part of the deal approved by the university's trustees. The new deal keeps Weber's salary at $200,000 but it increases the money he gets for doing radio and TV shows, camps and promotional events by $150,000, bringing his total compensation to $700,000 per year, according to documents prepared for the trustees.
College football
A former Kansas State offensive lineman was charged with stealing autographed baseballs -- bearing the signatures of such New York Yankees greats as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio -- from coach Bill Snyder's home. Chris Boggas, 23, was arrested Wednesday. He remained in jail yesterday on $10,000 bail for a felony theft charge, and was scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday. Riley County Police Lt. Tim Hegarty said the six baseballs stolen from Snyder's home were signed by Mantle, DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Paul O'Neill, Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra.
The Insight Bowl will move from Bank One Ballpark in downtown Phoenix to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe in December 2006. The move, announced yesterday, coincides with the Fiesta Bowl's shift from Sun Devil Stadium to the new Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale starting in the 2006 season. The Insight Bowl and Tempe have reached a memorandum of understanding on an eight-year commitment. Beginning in 2006, the bowl will feature the sixth selection from the Big 12 and Big Ten conferences. Currently the bowl matches teams from the Pac-10 and Big East. Tennis
Second-seeded Flavia Pennetta overcame back trouble to beat qualifier Elena Vesnina, 7-6 (3), 6-2, yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of Modena International. Pennetta joins two other Italians in the round of eight. Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday, while Tathiana Garbin upset sixth-seeded Jelena Kostanic, 6-2, 6-3. Pennetta improved her season record on clay to 16-4 -- including consecutive titles in Bogota and Acapulco. Running
Olympic gold medalist Darren Campbell was admitted to the hospital yesterday with a viral infection and is doubtful for the world championships next month. The 31-year-old Campbell won gold with the British 400-meter relay squad in Athens last year. "It now looks increasingly unlikely that he will be able to compete over (the) 100 or 200 prior to the final selection date for the world championships on July 25," his management company said in a statement.
